Book: Leading by Alex Ferguson & Michael Moritz
You cannot lead by following… Michael Moritz
No chasing of money. Provide excellence in everything you do, the money will come in…Alex Ferguson
My job was to make everyone understand the impossible was possible. That’s the difference between leadership and management.
Here are some snippets from the second best business book I have read, after Dale’s How to Win Friends…., obviously. There is an alternative review of this on my business blog as there is so much worth sharing, so this one is more football lead. SAF says lots of wonderful things about many former players and doesn’t hold back on the good or the bad:
As for Ronaldo, he’d be able to score from free kicks if he took them from standing behind the moon.
The crowd look at the goal Beckham, scored (1996) as it was some sort of miracle, It was nothing of the sort. He must have practiced that same kick hundreds of times.
On pipeline: part of the leaders job is to eliminate risks. I would only want to take a risk during the last 15 minutes of the game if we're tailing by a goal.
On complacency: people think of me as a winning manager. At united I managed: 1500 games L 267 D338 W895 = 60% chance of winning
On the importance of landing a mentor you can relate to. Barcelona are still better at nurturing young players
On the importance the right players: which member of the team would command a place with the current European champions? (it’s always an evolving team) Balance is key to business as football, you can't have a team of 11 goalkeepers.
SAF talks a lot about rhythm: a pattern that works for various situations. All the best footballers are working class. The middle class go for education and have drive.
On Speaking: quotes Bill Shankly ‘if we get the ball, why don’t we pass it to each other? It’s a wee bit harder when the other team gave got it.’ At half time during 1999 Champions League trailing 1-0 “when that Cup is going to be presented, just remember that you can’t even touch it if you’re the losers – you’ll be walking past it with your losers’ medals, knowing someone walking behind is going to lift the Cup’. Of course they go on to a famous victory. His distaste for agents is evident and understandable. They just need a lawyer he says.
From Michael Moritz after studying SAF for years: Obsessives, those who cannot imagine doing anything else with their lives, always find their work more fulfilling that those who find themselves in a profession because it was expected of them. I’m thrilled he believes that as with me, SAF these is no separation between life and work. I call it the fun/fun balance. I imagine Fergie calls it ‘life’. Writes about SAF knowing how to extract the extra 5% - the difference between silver and gold. I could have copied all 38 pages of the epilogue here as it’s the most excellent summary of leadership I have seen. He final point from Moritz: great leaders are competing – not with others – but with the idea of perfection itself. For them, greatness is just never good enough. I like that he doesn’t use his title on the front of the books, just Alex Ferguson.
9½/10
Alternative review on my business blog.